Adnan Syed: Baltimore man who strangled GF to have murder conviction reinstated by appellate court panel
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND: Adnan Syed's murder conviction has been reinstalled by an appellate court panel. This comes after he spent more than two decades behind bars and was set free in September 2022. Syed was tried in 2000 and was found guilty of burying his high school lover, Hae Min Lee in a grave close to Baltimore's Leakin Park. Meanwhile, the key reason behind rehearing the case is that the Maryland appeals court stated that the lower court violated the right of the victim’s family to attend a critical hearing in the case. Hence it is unsure if Syed will be punished again or even go back to prison.
In fact, Syed’s conviction will now be vacated and needs to be re-done, hence resulting in the 41-year-old's original sentence being reinstated. However, It is still unclear what will immediately happen next in case of the hearing. It is possible that the new hearing may result in the same outcome as before.
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What are the claims of Hae Min Lee's family?
Hae Min Lee's brother, Young Lee, who represents the victim in this case stressed on the fact that he was not given enough time to attend the vacation hearing, as per Daily Mail.The Maryland Special Court of Appeals' ruling claimed, "These rights were violated in this case, where the State gave Mr. Lee notice only one business day before the hearing, which was insufficient time to reasonably allow Mr. Lee, who lived in California, to attend the hearing in person, and therefore, the court required Mr. Lee to attend the hearing remotely. Allowing a victim entitled to attend a court proceeding to attend in person, when the victim makes that request and all other persons involved in the hearing appear in person, is consistent with the constitutional requirement that victims be treated with dignity and respect."
It further added, " Because the circuit court violated Mr. Lee’s right to notice of, and his right to attend, the hearing on the State’s motion to vacate, in violation of CP § 8-301.1(d), this Court has the power and obligation to remedy those violations, as long we can do so without violating Mr. Syed’s right to be free from double jeopardy. We can do that, and accordingly, we vacate the circuit court’s order vacating Mr. Syed’s convictions, which results in the reinstatement of the original convictions and sentence. We remand for a new, legally compliant, and transparent hearing on the motion to vacate, where Mr. Lee is given notice of the hearing that is sufficient to allow him to attend in person, evidence supporting the motion to vacate is presented, and the court states its reasons in support of its decision."
What is the statement from Lee's attorney?
"We are equally pleased that the Appellate Court is directing the lower court to conduct a transparent hearing where the evidence will be presented in open court and the court’s decision will be based on evidence for the world to see," said David Sanford, Lee's attorney. Further, he added, "We are delighted that the Appellate Court of Maryland agrees with Mr. Lee that his right to have reasonable notice of the Syed vacatur hearing and his right to be physically present at that hearing were violated by the trial court." After he was removed from the prison, Syed has been hired at Georgetown University’s Prisons and Justice Initiative, where he works on prison reform.
What are the claims of Syed's attorney?
Assistant Public Defender Erica Suter, who is also Syed’s attorney and director of the Innocence Project Clinic, said, "Appellate court reinstated the conviction not because the Motion to Vacate was erroneous, but because Ms. Lee’s brother did not appear in person at the vacatur hearing. We agree with the dissenting judge that the appeal is moot and that Mr. Lee’s attendance over Zoom was sufficient," as per CNN. “There is no basis for re-traumatizing Adnan by returning him to the status of a convicted felon. For the time being, Adnan remains a free man, we remain optimistic that justice will be done. We intend to seek review in Maryland’s highest court, the Supreme Court of Maryland, and will continue to fight until Adnan’s convictions are fully vacated."